West Ottawa defense stuffs Hamilton late

Tuesday

Dec 17, 2013 at 10:11 PMDec 17, 2013 at 10:11 PM

By Michael.Appelgate@hollandsentinel.com (616) 546-4271

It took some time for the West Ottawa boys basketball team to adjust to some tight foul calls, and an attacking Hamilton offense.But once it did, there was no stopping the Panthers.West Ottawa (1-1) went on a 13-2 run between the third and fourth quarters to beat the Hawkeyes (2-1) 50-45 on Tuesday night at Hamilton. The Hawkeyes led by 10 points early in the second quarter, but lightened up on its attack just enough for the Panthers to get back into the game.“Early in the game, I thought we did a great job of reversing the basketball and attacking and not settling for jump shots,” Hamilton coach Brant Haverdink said. “What we need to understand when things are going well, don’t settle for jump shots.”The Hawkeyes were aggressive early as Elijah Walker hit a 3-pointer and then drove to the hoop on a fast break for a 5-0 lead. Grant Wolfram hit a couple of buckets in the lane as well as Hamilton jumped out to a 9-4 lead after the first four minutes.West Ottawa climbed back in the second quarter with a host of players. Caleb McNitt jump-started the offense with a layup and Houston Bedford and Darrius Morange followed with baskets as well.At halftime, the Panthers trailed 25-19.“I thought we played with more confidence in the second, third and fourth quarters. I think that comes from our defense,” West Ottawa coach Steve Windemuller said. “It’s a tribute to our kids because they battled back and didn’t quit. We were undersized and out of balance, we sometimes got frustrated.”Hamilton held a 36-32 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but West Ottawa scored 10 straight points to gain the lead for good.Bedford hit two layups to lead the charge, and McNitt scored after missing an easy layup, and getting his own offensive rebound.Bedford led all scorers with 14 points and McNitt had 12.“We’re a young team, and we just have to learn to settle in, and we did,” McNitt said. “It’s a cool win especially having coach Windemuller here to get his first. We had to fight back and play hard in the second half.”The Hawkeyes pulled within two points with 42.6 seconds remaining thanks to a bucket from Wolfram. West Ottawa hit 6-of-6 free throws from that point until the end of the game to seal the win.Hamilton turned the ball over 11 times. Most of the turnovers came late in the game when the West Ottawa zone defense increased its activity.“They are athletic. You put those types of athletes out there in a zone and they will get tipped passes,” Haverdink said. “We anticipated an active zone and we tried to simulate it in practice.”Wolfram led the Hawkeyes with 12 points and Walker had 11.”